It's Friday, November the 17th, 2023. Welcome to the Daily Article podcast. I'm Chris Elkins

narrating today's daily article written by Denison Forum co-founder and CEO, Dr. Jim Denison.

This week's economic news was unexpectedly good. Inflation is down from 9.1% last summer to 3.2% now.

In response, the Dow closed Wednesday at its highest level since mid-August. Observers think the Federal Reserve

will not raise interest rates further, freeing up capital for new investment. Unemployment is still low.

According to Forbes, financial strategists largely expect the stock market to continue rising next year as well.

Why then are so many Americans so unhappy with America? In a recent CNN poll, 72% said that things in the U.S.

are going badly. In a Gallup survey, only 19%

said they are satisfied with the way things are going in our nation. In an ABC News Ipsos poll,

only 23% said the country is heading in the right direction. Economic uncertainty is one factor. The pandemic taught us that

things can change seemingly overnight. Prices remain high and many parts of the country are still

struggling in this post-industrial economy. However, as Jude Russo writes in the American conservative,

the dysphoria may lie deeper. Russo points to the fact that affiliation

with civil society, churches, charities, clubs, is at an all-time low as are marriage rates.

A plurality of Americans are not associated with any organized religion. Confidence in public

institutions has declined precipitously as well. Americans

trust small businesses in the military, but little else. Crime rates remain far higher than they

were in the pre-COVID era. Then Russo sardonically draws a lesson I was surprised to read in a secular

news outlet. Quote, it's almost as if human flourishing requires more than material prosperity.

He adds,

In the absence of something like true religion,

it's unclear what there is besides accumulation.

...